


You point, I shoot.

by branflake



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Friendship, I just love me some MacCready, In Game Dialogue, Spoilers, angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-08-28 15:59:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8452657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/branflake/pseuds/branflake
Summary: "Look lady, if you're preaching about the Atom or looking for a friend, you've got the wrong guy. If you need a hired gun... then maybe we can talk.""Maybe. Why don't you tell me who those guys were first?" She was calculating. He felt like she knew what he was going to say before he even said it."Couple of morons looking to climb the ladder of success by stepping on everyone else on the way up. You shouldn't be surprised though, that's how it goes when you run with the Gunners.""You're acting like I'm supposed to know what you're talking about." It was MacCready's turn to be surprised."Maybe it's better that you don't. I don't want the stink of Winlock and Barnes rubbing off on me and scaring away my business. "Now, what about you? How do I know I won't end up with a bullet in my back?" She laughed once, short."You don't. But that's part of the risk, isn't it?" MacCready thought about that and nodded. He gave his price and she agreed to it."I haven't gotten your name yet." She threw a glance at him over her shoulder."It's Nora, Nora Mathews." She took a few steps forward before turning to him again, "I like the hat, by the way." With that she left, leaving MacCready stunned.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first time posting something I've written on a public forum. If you have any constructive criticism or see any glaring spelling/grammar mistakes, please feel free to comment! Gosh, I'm so nervous.

"I can't say I'm not surprised to find you in a dump like this, MacCready." Nora's interest piqued. From the bar nearly fifteen feet away she heard the tension in their words.

"I was wondering how long it would take your bloodhounds to track me down, Winlock." Nora's hairs stood on end and a very small voice in the back of Nora's mind called out i what could only be described in primal joy, a fight. Nora's hand tapped against the baton strapped to her leg, "It's been almost three months, don't tell me you're getting rusty."

The new voice was easy, he wasn't afraid. Nora slid from the bar and sauntered to the VIP section. She leaned against the door frame of the large room. Two large, green clad men stood with their backs to her, another less brazenly green clad man sat at the couch. His eyes flicked to her briefly, he continued without wavering.

"Should we take this outside?" She stared only at the gentleman seated on the couch, his gaze kept trailing her way. She grinned.

"It ain't like that. I'm just here it deliver a message." _Lame._

"In case you forgot, I felt the Gunners for good." The Gunners? Now Nora was definitely curious.

"Yeah, I heard. But you're still taking jobs in the Commonwealth. That isn't going to work for us." The still-gunner and his friend looked rigid, the one who had yet to speak cast glances around the room.

  
"I don't take orders from you!" He stood abruptly and Nora was shocked at his sudden out burst, and it must've shown on her face because MacCready's tone shifted, "Not anymore. So why don't you take your girlfriend and walk out of here while you still can."

"What?! Winlock, tell me we don't have to listen to this shit!" The other gentlemen put on a very macho bravado, chest puff and all.

"Listen up MacCready, the only reason we haven't filled your body full of bullets is that we don't want a war with Goodneighbor." Nora snickered. Fear is a great deterrent, "See? We respect other people's boundaries. We know how to play the game. It's something you never learned."

"Glad to have dissapointed you." _What a charmer_.

  
"You can play the tough guy all you want. But if we hear you're still operating in Gunner territory, all bets are off. You got that?"

"You finished?" MacCready all but spat.

"Yeah, we're finished. Come on, Barnes." It was a tense moment before anything was said, Nora kept a calm gaze on MacCready. Something about her golden-hazel eyes sparked frustration in MacCready, she was unreadable to him.

  
"Look lady, if you're preaching about the Atom or looking for a friend, you've got the wrong guy. If you need a hired gun... then maybe we can talk." He reached to the table next to him and grabbed the beer he'd been nursing before Winlock and Barnes had showed up. It was another beat before she answered.

"Maybe. Why don't you tell me who those guys were first?" She took a few steps toward him, and MacCready felt a that frustration settle in his stomach again. She was calculating, he felt like she knew what he was going to say before he even said it.

  
"Couple of morons looking to climb the ladder of success by stepping on everyone else on the way up." Nora took her lip between her teeth, a habit she carried with her all her life. "You shouldn't be surprised though, that's how it goes when you run with the Gunners."

"You're acting like I'm supposed to know what you're talking about." It was MacCready's turn to be surprised.

"Maybe it's better that you don't. I don't want the stink of Winlock and Barnes rubbing off on me and scaring away my business." He glanced around the room once, "Now, what about you? How do I know I won't end up with a bullet in my back?" She laughed once, short. 

"You don't. But that's part of the risk, isn't it?" MacCready thought about that and nodded. He gave his price and she agreed to it, saying he'd get it in the morning and that she'd already paid for the nights rent for his hotel room at the Rexford. Maybe she was leagues ahead of him.

"I haven't gotten your name yet." She threw a glance at him over her shoulder.

"It's Nora, Nora Mathews." She laughed slightly, "I like the hat, by the way." With that she left, leaving MacCready stunned.  
  
The next day MacCready packed his meager things and found Nora waiting outside his room. A cigarette dangled from her red lips, her hands stuck deep in the pocket of her leather jacket. MacCready flashed her a small smile while she took a long drag.

  
"So, where we headin'?" She returned his smile and pulled a small bag from her pocket. MacCready stared hard at her.

"This is more than what we agreed." She laughed, a real laugh.

"I'm aware. There's two hundred more than what we agreed to. I want to stop at Kill or Be Killed before we head out, the extra is for whatever gear you need. If you need more, all you need is ask." MacCready cast his new employer a suspicious glance, she sighed. "And hanging around me often means shoot outs. Can't have my hired gun run out of bullets, can I?"

"Well, when you put it that way... Maybe I'll need one hundred and fifty more. For gear." Her eyebrows perked up and she bit her lip, MacCready supposed it was a habit. She plunged her hand into the leg pack strapped to her thigh and produced another small bag.

"Here's two hundred." MacCready continued to stare, she opened his other hand to place the pouch in it.

"I take care of my own. If there's anything else you need just let me know." MacCready was very wary man and was always keeping tally on his surroundings. So, he couldn't help but notice how soft her hands were, completely callous free. 

"Lady, your hands are soft." She laughed again.

"Yeah, I suppose they are. Won't last long though." Everything in the back of MacCready's mind was telling him to run, but he stayed put.

"I'm not a synth."

"That's what a synth would say." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm not a synth. My tragic back story is long and complicated and I don't feel up to sharing the truly juicy bits at this moment. Maybe when were huddled around the campfire making s'mores."

"What's a s'more?" This earned another eye-roll. 

"Even if I was a synth, the pay is good. I'm a fair partner. We'll split everything right down the middle. Hell, I'll probably give you more anyway. Can we just go now?" 

MacCready pondered a moment and stared hard into Nora's eyes. They were a soft washed out green, just barely lighter than the green of MacCready's duster. Small slivers of golden honey were speckled near her pupil. Her hair reminded MacCready of the red hues of the sunsets in the Capital Wasteland, it tumbled just past her shoulders like rusty water. He noticed a blush creeping to her cheeks and the freckles that splattered her cheeks and nose. She had her bottom lip between her teeth again. Something in her eyes was guarded, but the merc could see she was silently pleading with him. 

"Alright, you aren't a synth. What are you then." She smiled sadly.

"I was a vault dweller." MacCready laughed loudly, it echoed off the walls, "That's pretty much the reaction I get." She strolled away and he jogged a short pace to catch up with her.

"How has the wasteland not eaten you whole yet?" She shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

"I guess I'm just lucky." MacCready laughed and the pair continued to Kill or Be Killed in silence.

Nora bartered her way through three hundred fusion cells, eleven stimpacks (K-LEO's whole supply), five hundred rounds of .45 caliper bullets, and five frag grenades. All worth 2,650 caps. She bartered her way down 200 caps with junk, weapons, and armor. MacCready began to wonder what he'd gotten himself into.  
She went right next door to Daisy's-- used the same process-- and came away with an extra three stimpacks, mentats, jet, buffout, and around ten cans of purified water. She handed seven stimpacks and five cans of purified water to MacCready, who was staring at her stunned. 

"What, is there something on my face?" MacCready shook his head rigorously and threw his pack back over his shoulder. She let out a long whistle and a large dog came bounding out from the Statehouse.

  
"Hi there boy! Did you find anything for me?" The large German Sheppard barked once, "Well, you'll get something next time. Dogmeat, this is MacCready. He's our new friend." She beamed at the mutt who vigorously wagged his tail. "Alright! Let's hit the road." She tip toed over Finn's corpse and pressed the gate open with a huff, Dogmeat copied her path over the stiffening corpse. MacCready jogged to catch back up with her.

"Where are we heading?" She dug around in her leg pack and pulled two snack cakes and a piece of jerky. She handed one of the cakes to MacCready and the jerky to Dogmeat.

"Well, first we've got to stop off in Diamond City. I have to meet with Nick Valentine. He's supposed to be this super detective. When we finish up there we'll head back to Sanctuary to resupply. We've got quite a few things to accomplish in the next few weeks." 

MacCready disliked Diamond City, it was too safe. MacCready liked a good roof as much as any, but a little action was healthy. As long as you didn't catch a bullet, that is.  
When they got to the city, they heard the unmistakable sound of supermutants in the distance. Nora pulled her rifle from it's place on her shoulder and crouched low to the ground. 

"You sure you can handle this, lady? Being a vault dweller and all?" She rolled her eyes and shoved a fresh fusion cell into her rifle. 

"Try to keep up." With that she was off, sprinting while crouched low, Dogmeat at her heels. MacCready followed after at a considerably slower pace. She reached a concrete barrier and slid behind it, she pulled a small mirror from her pocket and held it just above the edge of the barrier. She gave Dogmeat a signal that MacCready assumed meant stay. After a few moments she bolted upright and fired two shots into the heads of the two closest supermutants, they were dead before they hit the ground. MacCready popped his head up and took out two of the green beasts on his own. Within minutes the conflict was over. Nora began picking through the bodies, shoving bits and pieces into her pack.

"Were you counting how many there were with that mirror?" Nora nodded as she pulled a handful of caps from the satchel of a supermutant.

"Not bad for a vault dweller?" MacCready nodded back to her, "Diamond City is just a head."

The rest of the way to Diamond City Nora sang along to a song on her Pip-boy. MacCready thought singing might've been a generous description for what she was doing.

"Do you want every Raider and supermutant on our tail?" He whisper-yelled at her. She laughed a loudly and it echoed against the empty buildings.

  
"That'd be fun. Do you think the supermutants and the raiders would fight each other too? Or just us?" MacCready stopped dead in his tracks and thought that maybe he'd made a mistake. They resumed the short way to Diamond City, and upon arrival they were greeted by Piper. Dogmeat ran to a little girl holding a stack of newspapers, she dropped them and began to pet the mutt.

"Blue! I've been hoping you'd show up, I feel awful after what happened the last time we saw each other." Nora laughed and scratched the back of her neck, Piper's eyes drifted to just behind her. "Who's this?"

"Uh-- This is MacCready. I hired him to traipse through the wasteland with me." Piper's face reddened. 

"Why didn't you just come to Nick or me? I can traipse every where." Nora sighed and rubbed her temples.

"I'm not having this conversation with you again, Piper. Please don't make me feel any worse than I do about all of this already." MacCready felt a pang at the bottom of his stomach, he understood he was paid to be here, but he thought that he and Nora were getting along.

"Yep. That's me merc for hire." he walked off toward the noodle stand just before he heard Piper all but screech.

"Mercenary!" 

MacCready winced at the word, remembering Lucy's distaste for the type. Her brow would furrow on it's own accord when she heard those words.

 _Mercenary. Gunner. Killer._

But that's what he was wasn't he? How many people had he killed, just for some caps? Because someone else told him to? What would Lucy think of him now? What would Duncan think? What did MacCready think about himself? That was a question he didn't want to answer. He thought about Lucy's blonde hair and her sweet face. MacCready had done a lot of things he wasn't proud of, and even more things he didn't want to think about ever again. He felt his hand pressed against his shirt pocket, in turn the small wooden solider pressed against his breast. He muttered another apology to his wife and pulled his hat down lower.

"I'm sorry about Piper. Sometimes I genuinely believe a radroach crawled up her ass and laid eggs." Nora plopped on the bar stool next to her hired gun.

"I've heard worse. Are we still gonna go see Valentine?" She bit her lip again and tapped her knuckles on the counter.

"Listen, this thing with Valentine is really personal to me. It's about my son, someone took him from me and I'll tear up the wasteland to get him back. I'm going to be honest with you, I hired you because I couldn't stand to put Piper or Preston or any of my other friends in danger. I hired you because I know you can handle yourself." MacCready felt his throat tighten when Nora mentioned she had a son, it was something they had in common. 

"What's his name?" She pulled a photo out of her jacket pocket and handed it to MacCready. Nora held a newborn in her arms and was laughing up at a man with a large build and a light complexion. They stood in front of a pristine blue house. He was smiling too, looking at Nora with more love than MacCready had ever seen another person have. 

"His name is Shaun. That's my husband, Nate. We were trying to take a normal picture but Nate had said something funny. It's been so long I don't even remember what he said." The photograph was old, way too old.

"Is this picture real? It's gotta be a hundred years old." She laughed a little and gently too it back.

"It's actually two hundred years old, I was born before the bombs fell."

"Yeah, and I'm Jangles the Moon Monkey." Nora just stared at him, "You're serious."

"Yep, cryostasis for two hundred and ten years does wonders for the skin." She slid from the stool and made her way deeper into Diamond City. MacCready followed.

"Lady, where's your husband? Shouldn't he be with you?" Nora turned and looked at MacCready, she looked as if she was trying to find the right thing to say. The pink glow of Valentine's neon sign fell on her cheeks. 

"He's dead. The man that took my baby shot him. He died protecting our son." Instantly MacCready thought of Lucy and how she'd jumped in front of Duncan when the ghouls attacked.

"I'm so sorry-- I didn't know." She smiled and shook her head.

"You couldn't have known." Her eyes were far away, MacCready could almost see the green palm trees in the color of her eyes. She was an island, he could almost hear the waves in her silence. MacCready wasn't sure he remembered how to swim. 

"On the way to Diamond City I was questioning why I agreed to come with you, Nora. I don't have to ask that question anymore. "She bit her lip again, MacCready looked away. 


	2. Another Settlement Needs Our Help.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I didn't realize you'd enjoyed my 'physique.'"

When Nora mentioned Sanctuary, MacCready was not expecting fortified settlement, a rarity in the Wasteland. Numerous lazer turrets sat on the far side of the bridge, the stationary weapons were in turn flanked by two tall guard towers. The guards waved unenthusiastically from their perches to Nora as she and MacCready approached. Nora led MacCready to the communal house where they began to unload their gear, Dogmeat retreated into a small red dog house. Nora began to split their haul when a tall man with a lazer musket sauntered to them. Nora introduced MacCready who remained silent, eyes down cast.

"MacCready." Preston cast a steely look at the mercenary, "One of my good friends was gunned down by a couple gunners a few months back. Do you remember that?" Nora inserted her small frame between the tense men and harsh whispered to the mercenary.

"The blue house over that way, wait for me there." MacCready recognized the house from the photograph that Nora had shown him. Reluctantly, he stood where they had, so many years ago. He imagined he was there with Lucy and Duncan in his arms. He tried to imagine how green the world was before the bombs fell. How beautiful it must've been, how much Lucy would've loved it. He inhaled deeply and was reminded of his reality by the dry air. MacCready shook his head slightly and glanced back at Nora and Garvey. Nora's face was unreadable, Garvey's was plastered in anger. He was almost animated, arms flailing about brow knit together. Nora said something that took the fight right out of him, because his face fell and his shoulder slumped. She stalked to the house with a dangerous look in her eyes.

"I don't understand why everyone wants to treat me like a child." She stormed past him into the house. She left the door open for him, an invitation into her home. He gingerly shut the door behind him.

"They can't help it, you look like you're only eighteen years old." She threw a look over at him and began digging through a trunk.

"This was your house, before the war?" She nodded and he began to poke around the trunk nearest him.

"What was the world like? Before the bombs." Nora laughed bitterly and stopped rummaging to look at him directly.

"It was ugly. My husband, he was a soldier in the war. He'd tell these horrible stories of prisoners of war and bodies being torn apart by shrapnel. Women and children dying in the streets. Sometimes I could hardly stomach the things he told me, but I know if he hadn't of talked about it his heart would've hardened and I would've lost the man I fell in love with. They called it PTSD. The War wasn't even the worst part. You know, Everyone just took and took from the planet, until there was hardly anything left. Trees were scarce sometimes in the poorer neighborhoods the water wasn't clean. The only way we could even afford the house and the car and Codsworth was Nate's military salary." MacCready felt his heart drop, maybe his fantasy wasn't as beautiful as he imagined.

"Take whatever you need, there's a sleeping bag rolled up around here somewhere. Dinner's at six. If anyone gives you any trouble for that mercenary crap tell them it was your evil twin brother, not you." MacCready found the sleeping bag and walked back outside.

  
The rest of the his afternoon passed uneventfully, MacCready sat in front of Nora's house and cleaned his rifle. Nora scurried around the settlement dismantling things here and there and dragged them back toward her work bench at the communal house.

Around mid afternoon, she walked up and smiled at MacCready and then set to work digging her own mailbox up. She dragged it across the way and began cutting it into pieces. At some point in the evening Garvey brought her a drink and she took it, smiled politely, but didn't drink any of it. Six thirty rolled around and she still hadn't left her project. MacCready made two plates and went to her station.

"You know, traipsing across the Commonwealth isn't any fun on an empty stomach. You should eat." She pulled her goggles up and smiled at him. 

"I missed dinner again, didn't I?" He shrugged and took a seat with her. 

"Only by a half hour." She laughed and took the extra plate from him.

"Why are you eating late?" She stuck a bite of what MacCready really hoped was brahmin meat in her mouth.

"Didn't want to get stuck in the crowd. This is quite the place you got." She laughed and shook her head.

"Preston's got his eye on some land out on the coast. Calls it The Castle. Ever heard of it?" MacCready hadn't. They ate in silence until MacCready's curiosity got the best of him.

"Just what is it you're working on?" Nora looked at him sheepishly and set her plate down. She glanced at the dog house on the corner of the covered driveway, Dogmeat drooled over at them.

"Dogmeat needs armor." MacCready laughed raucously, "He's vulnerable out there! And he's my best friend." She clicked her tongue and his ears popped up. She tore off a piece of meat and tossed it at him.

"Really, because it looks like Garvey is your best friend." Nora's cheeks reddened, realization smacked MacCready stupid.

"You and Garvey! That's rich." MacCready laughed again around a bite of tatoes.

"It's complicated, okay? Preston want's something more than I'm going to give him. He's in love with me, but I can't-- I don't feel the same way. One big ball of ocmplicated." She bit her lip again.

"Do you bite at your lip like that because you're thinking too hard?" She laughed again and nodded.

"Helps me focus I guess." They finished their meals in silence. Nora's walked back to her house in silence, and retired for the night.

MacCready decided to stay at the communal house in a real bed. On the brink of sleep, MacCready had a realization about his new employer. She did everything with a purpose, when she smiled she seemed know more than anyone else in the room, himself included. MacCready looked through the window and remarked on how little of the moon was showing, waning he recalled. He decided that was what Nora was like, you could only see a fraction of her. He wondered how much was tucked away, how much she was hiding.  
The next morning, MacCready woke early. As he exited the house of sleeping farmers he decided he would have plenty of time before Nora woke to eat and pack his gear, but she was already waiting for him outside. She slung her pack over her shoulder at the sight of him and set off.

"What about breakfast?" Nora looked at him like he was stupid.

"We've got places to be. We'll eat on the way." She adjusted the buckling on Dogmeat's new armor and smiled, "Who's the most handsome man in all of the Commonwealth?" 

"Nora, you're too kind." MacCready smirked at her as she rolled her eyes.

"We've got a long couple of days ahead of us. I hope you're ready." MacCready retreated inside to grab his gear, five minutes later they were crossing the bridge leaving Sanctuary. She was looking at a map on her Pip Boy, browns pulled down. MacCready hadn't seen a Pip Boy since he was a kid. He remarked on how ironic it was that it was also a vault dweller who sported the tech.

"Alright, some itinerary. Nick is working on all that information I gave him so there's no telling how long that's gonna take. We'll head back to Diamond City in two weeks or so to check in on him. Preston gave us some tasks to pass the time. I hope you like scavenging. There's a settlement in need of help a half a day west from here." 

"You point I shoot, remember." She laughed.

"Well, we'll probably be doing quite a bit of that. The settlement has requested help against some raider attacks. You'll have all the slaughter your little heart desires." When she was satisfied with the map she switched on the Diamond City Radio and began to hum along to some tune about uranium.

"You know, that defeats the purpose of being stealthy." Nora grinned wickedly at MacCready.

"Maybe that's my plan. I like a good fight." MacCready rolled his eyes.

"In my line of work stealth was your closest ally. Maybe even more so than the gun at your side, when you run out of ammo high tailing it out of a sticky situation is tricky." She laughed a little. 

"My line of work is killing bad people and creatures so that the good people and creatures don't have to worry about it anymore. Stealth doesn't have anything to do with that." She pulled more snack cakes out of her pack and offered MacCready one. 

"Sugar, for breakfast? Don't you think that's not the wisest choice?" Nora rolled her eyes and took a rather large bite of her snack cake.

"The term 'gun for hire' doesn't exactly scream wisest decision to me. Besides, what do you care about a few calories? It doesn't look like one snack cake is gonna mess up that physique you've got." MacCready raised a quizzical eyebrow at his companion.

"I didn't realize you'd enjoyed my 'physique.'" Nora's cheeks reddened.

 "I didn't mean it in that way. It's just that you're in good physical condition and that one snack cake isn't going to go straight to your ass or anything."

"You looked at my ass too?" MacCready felt smug now that Nora was flustered. 

"Why don't we just stop talking." It wasn't a suggestion, Nora was done with this conversation. MacCready could tell from the way her shoulders and mouth were set in straight, tense lines. MacCready couldn't shake off the pleasure that he felt knowing Nora had noticed his physique.

 


End file.
